11. Chapter 11

The only thing that I can hear above the sound of my breathing is the din of the crew on the deck cleaning up. More than anything, I want to just grab the men and storm to my cabin so we can get going on the festivities, but the thought that maybe, just maybe, this isn’t all a dream or a figment of my imagination won’t leave me.

And if that’s the truth, I need to ensure my entire crew is okay.

“Let’s put a pin in it for now,” I say before facing the lower deck. “We need to check on any casualties and see if anyone needs medical help.” Vaguely, I remember writing in a ship’s doctor, and I thank my lucky stars that I had the forethought to do so. “And someone go check on Bella. She has to be completely beside herself after the battle.”

“Wait!” Pete calls out, stopping my momentum down the steps. I turn to him with a quizzical look on my face. “Are you okay? No injuries?”

Pausing to take stock, I assess myself from top to toe and ascertain that other than general fatigue after the long fight, I’m relatively injury-free. “I’m good, Grin.” I smile at him, hoping to convey the feelings bubbling inside me at his consideration and care for me. “Now, please go check on Bella for me.”

The huge smile he rewards me with splits his face as he rushes past me. His hand grabs my hip on his way and gives it a firm squeeze before disappearing down the stairs and into the ship”s bowels.

Jack, Drake, and I set about checking on all the crew, and once I’m satisfied that everyone who was seriously injured has been stabilized or sent to Doc, I turn to the guys. “What do we want to do with the survivors?”

Drake’s brow draws into a confused frown at my question, and Jack clears his throat before lifting an eyebrow at me. Oh damn. Vixen wouldn’t have asked that, would she?

Knowing full well that if I intend on following through on the promise of that delicious kiss from earlier, I’ll probably have to tell Drake my secret too, I opt just to push through. Vixen, the pirate captain, would know what she wants to do with a bunch of captives. But as I haven’t written this yet, I don’t have it all figured out.

“I don’t want to let them go and risk possible retribution, but I also don’t want to kill a bunch of men that surrendered, either.”

Jack follows my lead and looks over the ten or so men left over from the Barnacles crew. They’ve all been tied or shackled and wait, kneeling on the starboard side of our deck. The Barnacle isn’t entirely under yet, so my own men were working to get all the bodies onto the larger ship so we could set it alight once we’re a little farther away.

It”s probably not the most environmentally friendly option, but hey… it’s a book. What do you want from me?

“Leave them in the brig until we make port,” Jack advises, and I see the merit in this plan. We’re going to the private island we’ve claimed as our home. Some of my men have wives, girlfriends and children ashore. We could either set the captives loose on a dinghy with some supplies, or perhaps we can convince them to join the… light side.

Huh. I wonder when I stopped thinking of them as Vixen’s men and Vixen’s crew, and they became mine.

“Let’s do that, then.” I consent, and Jack orders a deckhand to take the captives down below. Drake orders an around-the-clock watch on them, but the deckhand looks to me first for confirmation.

“It’s fine…” I pause, trying to remember the young man’s name. “Jimmy. Listen to Killer. We’ll need some of our best on them in case they try something, okay?”

Drake bristles at being questioned, but luckily for him, he swallows down his annoyance and keeps it to himself. Dare I say there’s some progress with the grumpy asshole?

“If that’s everything, I think I need to get rid of some of this blood and check on all my… mates.” If either of the men with me thinks anything of my chosen word for them, they don’t show it. Moving to the door into the ship”s hull, I notice Drake staying behind, looking mightily unsure of himself. Another new development for the ship’s previous captain. One that seems very wrong, yet utterly adorable on him.

“You coming, Killer?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at him. The crew can make of that invite what they want. Either I’ll wake up in the morning in my own bed and have no regrets for what I did in dreamland, or I’ll still be on the ship, and they’ll need to get used to seeing me with yet another crew member by my side. I’m the captain, after all. I can have as many pirates plunder my pleasure garden as I please.

We file into my bedroom one by one, and I’m pleased to find Pete already there… with a metal tub filled with steaming water. I don’t question it. I don’t care if he made the hot water magically appear. All I want to do is jump him to thank him for the thoughtful gesture.

Something on my face transmits my intentions because he clears his throat and gestures to the corner of the cabin where the privacy screen is set up. Quiet as a mouse, Bella walks out behind it, wiping her hands on her apron. She looks up at me, a tentative smile blooming on her face.

“Mistress! I drew a bath for you. I know how hard you fight and figured you would want to get cleaned up.” She looks behind me and blushes when she takes note of the two extra men in the room with us. “I can have more water brought in if you like,” she asks me, looking down at her hands again.

In my next lifetime, I’m definitely going to work on Bella’s confidence.

“That’s fine, Bella. Thank you. I hope you’re well after the battle?”

Pete snorts rather unattractively at my words, drawing another rosy blush from my handmaiden. My scowl does little to faze him because his wide grin remains on his face. Bella clears her throat before nodding her response to me.

“Uh… yes, ma’am. I was safe in Doc’s cabin.” Her stuttering and rosy cheeks suddenly make a lot more sense. I feel a lot better now, but I am confused as to when I wrote in the idea of a romance between our rescued handmaiden and the older ship’s doctor.

“That’s good, Bella. Thank you. Perhaps you want to go back to Doc and see if he needs help with all the injured men?”

Bella nods her consent and rushes out the door amidst the chuckles of all three men with me.

Looking around at the three completely different creatures with me, I shrug off the onset of nerves and decide to just go with it. Kicking off my boots, I look at Pete. “Will you undo my hair, please?”

“It will be my pleasure, temptress.”